Psalm Studies, Part 1

Well, the other day I revealed for the first time that I had been reading pretty close to a book a day from the Bible (even though the two days before my fasting I actually managed two a day, which afforded me my break). I think that it's because of this status on Facebook that a friend of mine decided to ask me for help when it comes to studying the wisdom literature. Since I'm doing that portion right now anyways (granted, at a much faster speed than these psalm studies will be done, because I have to get finished by school starting), I accepted both the chance to help him, and for him to help me.

With that being said, anybody who wishes to comment on these studies is welcome to, though they are going to be aimed only at a specific person. You never know, possibly your comment will spark a drive for further reading into the Psalms and other wisdom literature. God uses us to get what he needs done, and sometimes we don't even realize it when it happens.

So, to begin, we'll be starting from Psalm 70 and going until Psalm 80. This weird starting point is due to my having already read up to that point in the literature, but after we've covered up to 150 we'll do a turn around and go from 1 to 69.

Throughout this study I'll do various things, hopefully to provide better insight into what these psalms can mean for us. At the top of the studies I'll post a few songs that you can listen to while reading the psalms. In addition to Youtube, you can find these songs on a progressively growing playlist among my playlists (http://www.playlist.com/luminick/playlists). Then I'll start listing each psalm by number only, because I don't know which version everybody uses. Any quotes from me will come from the ESV, just for future reference. Along with each psalm's number listing will come two (hopefully) questions, one from a book (Search the Scripture, edited by Alan M. Stibbs), the other from my own personal thoughts. The first will always be from the book itself, so the second (or any others) will always be from my own thoughts and studies. I won't be placing my answers to the questions up until after you've answered yourself, so as to not to influence what you see in the psalms while reading them. While you don't specifically have to answer the questions themselves in the comments, any thought you have on the questions or the psalms is expected. So, here we go:

Songs:
1. Song of Hope by Robbie Seay Band
2. Life is Beautiful by Press Play
3. Here I Am To Worship by Passion (or any other band you like)
4. Whispers In The Dark by Skillet
5. My Beloved by Kari Jobe

Psalm 70
1. What does the psalmist expect God to do for him and be to him?
2. I see this psalm as having two very distinct ideas, both of which have appeared in an earlier psalm (the last two parts of Psalm 40). How can we use these two ideas and combine them into a singular motivation?

Psalm 71
1. Do you make similar confessions to God when you pray?
2. I found this psalm very similar to Job's portrayal in the first chapter of Job. How do you think that this psalm teaches us to act on a day-to-day basis? She we be like Job and the psalmist in our praise and glory towards God?

Psalm 72
1. [This is apparently one of the prophetic psalms.] What are the two outstanding personal characteristics of Christ as King, as seen in this psalm?
2. I liked that this was a prayer by David about his son, Solomon, and his reign over Israel. Do you think that this should be a portrayal of fatherhood that we should uphold as well?

Psalm 73
1. Can you honestly and enthusiastically make the confession of verse 25?
2. How can we compare today's standard culture to this psalm's culture? Have we really changed that much in 2000+ years?

Psalm 74
1. As a Christian, can you face disaster and discomfort with such an assurance about God?
2. The psalmist seems to order God around a few times in this psalm. Do you think that we have any right to tell God exactly what to do, or is it foolish of us to think so?

Psalm 75
1. What characteristics of God's judgment are mentioned?
2. What can we think of as God being our Judge in everyday situations?

Psalm 76
1. What is God's purpose in acting in judgment?
2. Compare God to what you think about when you think of Zeus, or any other ancient thunder/lightning God. How is God in this psalm different than those other, false deities? How can we show those who still might believe in the false deities that God is the supreme ruler, with only using general revelation (aka, anything that's not from the Bible or Bible related)?

Psalm 77
1. What was the chief question underlying [the psalmist's] distress?
2. Whenever I worry, I find that the easiest way to relieve myself of worry is just to leave everything up to God. The psalmist, on the other hand, ponders upon God's works to relieve his worry. How do you relieve your worry, and why do you use that particular method?

Psalm 78
1. What disasters did idolatry bring upon Israel? How did God in His grace come to their aid?
2. I find that it's often easy to ignore God's actions in our past and to turn away from him, especially with such things like friends, Facebook, the internet, television, and other interesting books. Think back to what he's done for you. Do you often take Him for granted and leave His side for something else?

Psalm 79
1. How do you account for the difference between the Old Testament's view of God's glory (vengeance, prayer for forgiveness, deliverance) and the New Testament's view of God's glory?
2. Should we think in the same way that this psalm is played out in regards to our current enemies who have attacked us (9/11, the Afghan and Iraq wars, attacks against our faith)?


That's it for today. Discuss, shall we?